Willi Maerz
Willi Maerz
Komposition.Arrangement.
Komposition.Arrangement.
The artistic range of Willi Maerz’ works encompasses both quality light music and sophisticated art music. It includes numerous compositions for smaller ensembles, music for big bands and wind orchestra and up to full symphony orchestra. All his compositions and arrangements– independent of instrumentation – are catchy and characterized by rich harmonies and sound, classical compositional technique.
Willi Maerz began his career in music at age five with his first piano lessons. Later, while majoring in piano at the Academy of Music, Munich, Germany, he also read instrumentation (with Prof Enjott Schneider), harmonics in jazz (with Kurt Maas) and composition theory (with Rudi Spring). After graduating, Willi Huber, under his nom de plume, Willi Maerz, very quickly succeeded in making a name for himself in the light and pop music genres with numerous CD-releases.
In 1998 the composer won a competition of the city of Frankfurt in cooperation with the Music Fair Frankfurt, Germany with "Ein Lied für Frankfurt" (a song for Frankfurt).
Since 2002 the hymn "Entrada Bavarica" composed by Willi Maerz is performed during the New Year’s Reception of the Governor of the German Free State of Bavaria.
In 1998 the composer won a competition of the city of Frankfurt in cooperation with the Music Fair Frankfurt, Germany with "Ein Lied für Frankfurt" (a song for Frankfurt).
Since 2002 the hymn "Entrada Bavarica" composed by Willi Maerz is performed during the New Year’s Reception of the Governor of the German Free State of Bavaria.
In recent years Willi Maerz served numerous national and international symphony orchestras as composer and arranger, such as:
- SWR Rundfunkorchester
- Orchester des Nationaltheater Mannheim
- Philharmonie Baden-Baden
- Sinfonieorchester Heilbronn
- Orchester Theater Hagen
- Orchester des Thüringischen Landestheater
- Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra Hangzhou
In 2013 the Zhejiang Orchestra Hangzhou conducted by Muhai Tang, former student with Herbert von Karajan, performed Willi Maerz’ arrangement of the celebrated "Jasmin Flower" song during their European tour.
As a noted specialist for quality light music, Willi Maerz produced a great number of exclusive arrangements for the Salon Orchestra Baden-Baden, based on which the ensemble was able to develop its repertoire to cover a unique range of musical genres.
As a noted specialist for quality light music, Willi Maerz produced a great number of exclusive arrangements for the Salon Orchestra Baden-Baden, based on which the ensemble was able to develop its repertoire to cover a unique range of musical genres.
Another great passion of Willi Maerz in music is the harp, for which he wrote numerous arrangements, especially for harp duet and quartet. And it was his harp quartets which attracted the attention of the president of the US Harp-Society at the time, Delaine Leonard, who invited him to the “Summer-Institute" in Los Angeles, one of the most important festivals for harp in the USA. Numerous arrangements by Willi Maerz for harp duo, harp trio and harp quartet have been included in the catalogue of Lyra-Vanderbilt, USA, one of the main publishers for harp worldwide and on
https://harpcolumn.com/
to purchase and download
https://harpcolumn.com/music/meet-willi-maerz/
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In 2018 he was invited again by the American Harp Society to contribute a paper on arrangement for ensembles on the occasion of the "National Conference", the most important harp festival in the USA.
Another invitation followed by Professor Michelle Gott in 2019 for a workshop at the Tucson-University, Arizona.
Willi Maerz also arranges and composes for the Mannheim Harp Quartet founded by harpist Johanna Jung in 2017.
https://harpcolumn.com/
to purchase and download
https://harpcolumn.com/music/meet-willi-maerz/
https://harpcolumn.com/music/all-music/categories/artists/willi-maerz/
In 2018 he was invited again by the American Harp Society to contribute a paper on arrangement for ensembles on the occasion of the "National Conference", the most important harp festival in the USA.
Another invitation followed by Professor Michelle Gott in 2019 for a workshop at the Tucson-University, Arizona.
Willi Maerz also arranges and composes for the Mannheim Harp Quartet founded by harpist Johanna Jung in 2017.
In 2018 Willi Maerz arranged sixteen folk songs from around the globe for the Aurelius Boys’ Choir Calw, Germany, directed by Berhard Kugler and accompanied by the Mannheim Harp Quartet. This very unique album entitled “Länder-Lieder-Leute“
“Countries, Custom, Folk Songs” was produced by Coviello Classics. All songs being accompanied by harp quartet, Willi Maerz was nevertheless able to preserve the very unique musical idiom of each country. So does the fact that the choir performs all the songs in their original language.
“Countries, Custom, Folk Songs” was produced by Coviello Classics. All songs being accompanied by harp quartet, Willi Maerz was nevertheless able to preserve the very unique musical idiom of each country. So does the fact that the choir performs all the songs in their original language.
In 2013 the versatile arranger founded the woodwind ensemble "winds&more", together with musicians from the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra, Freiburg, Germany. For this ensemble he created new arrangements of classical piano works by Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms, of popular Musical melodies (e.g. My Fair Lady), and also of music from Latin America. The outstanding artistic level of the members of the ensemble (among them winners of the renowned ARD Music Competition) allows for the incorporation of virtuoso pieces in its repertoire, such as the spectacular "Hora staccato" by Dinicu and the well-known "Csardas" by Vittorio Monti.
In 2016 Siegfried Jung, tubist with the Mannheim Opera, commissioned Willi Maerz with a composition for tuba, harp and orchestra. The work, a divertimento in three movements, performed by the Orchestra of the Opera of Mannheim and conducted by Professor Walter Hilgers was recorded for a CD production in February 2017 (Coviello Classics). More works for tuba and piano and for tuba and harp originated in the years to follow in close cooperation with Siegfried Jung.In 2019 the “Aubade” was commissioned for tuba and piano as compulsory piece for tuba for the 55th International Music Competition in Markneukirchen, Germany.
See also
www.siegfriedjung.dewww.covielloclassics.de
